Marion Said:

dood ideas for preschool lesson plans???

We Answered:

I majored in early childhood education not too long ago, and made lesson plan after lesson plan after lesson plan...

What sorts of lesson plans do you need help with? Large motor activities, science, music, art, stories?

Here's an example for a large motor activity:
Bean Bag Toss
Area of Development: Physical
Objectives: By participating in this activity the children will…
-Develop large motor skills as they use their arms to throw bean bags.
-Enhance hand-eye coordination as they aim the bags into the basket or bucket.

Example story activity:
The Itsy Bitsy Spider, by Iza Trapani
Area of Development: Social/emotional
Objectives: By participating in this activity the children will…
-Discuss feelings and emotions.
-Develop listening skills as the story is read.

Example science activity:
Magnet Exploration Table
Area of Development: Cognitive
Objectives: By participating in this activity the children will…
-Experiment with magnets and various objects
-Predict which objects are attracted to magnets, and test their predictions
-Classify objects that are attracted to magnets

Example of an art activity:
Painting with Cars
Area of Development: Physical
Objectives: By participating in this activity the children will…
-Develop fine motor skills as they paint using toy cars
-Coordinate various grasping techniques, including pincer grasp, to pick up cars
-Develop social/emotional skills as the use their imaginations while “driving” the cars through the paint with other children
-Develop creativity skills as they create their artwork

These are all samples of my own lesson plans when I taught a preschool class as part of my schooling. All child development teachers like lesson plans done their own way, but I hope this helped you develop your own ideas. Best wishes and good luck!

Jose Said:

preschool lesson plan ideas?! please?

We Answered:

Dear Christeen,

Social and emotional development is reflected in the ability to pay attention, make transitions from one activity to another, and cooperate with others. At this age, children are more aware of themselves as individuals. They begin showing some understanding of moral reasoning; exploring ideas about fairness and good or bad behavior. They begin comparing themselves with others and are very interested in relationships with other children.

Here is an activity to help develop your children's social skills, emotional skills, and quality of character.

Read the Book/Poem

"The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein

Here is a video link to the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TZCP6OqR…

Create A Kindness Tree
Explore acts of kindness

Materials

•a tree (trunk and branches) made of construction paper, taped to a wall
•simple oval shaped leaves made from construction paper (Use green for a spring blooming tree or in a variety of colors if you are doing this activity in autumn.)

Directions

Make a "Kindness Tree" with your children, and show them how to make it bloom.

1.Comprehend kindness: Have your children name ways that they can be nice to people. Ask questions to prompt ideas: What can you say to make someone feel better when he or she is sad? How can you help each other every day? What special things can you do to show your friends you like them?

2.Count kindness: Each day, ask your children to share ways that they have been kind or helpful to a friend or family member, or ways that a friend or family member has been kind to them. Throughout the day observe when a child performs an act of kindness (i.e.sharing, being helpful, or comforting another child) and reward them by allowing them to tape a colored leaf on the tree. Label the leaf with their name and the act of kindness that they performed.

Take It Further

Encourage them to make drawings to illustrate their experiences. Add these drawings near your Kindness Tree.

Commemorate Kindness

With a group of children participating, your Kindness Tree will bloom even more! Help children read the leaves: Can they find their names? Can they find the names of their friends? Have children share their special act of kindness with the group.

Complete the total experience with an interactive song that invites children to interact and participate with simple acts of kindness.

Sing, "The Giving Song", from The Learning Station's CD, Literacy In Motion. This song correlates with the book, The Giving Tree. Children are invited to experience the good feeling of giving by sharing kind gestures to a friend; such as a wave, wink, smile, holding hands and love (heart).

Here is a link to a sample of the song and CD download:

http://store.learningstationmusic.com/li…

Here's a link you will enjoy that goes to a plethora of social/emotional activities:

http://www.pbs.org/parents/arthur/activi…

Remember, teaching young children to be kind to others has many values. It sets the pace for a positive way of life and has many great rewards. Foremost, that these great feelings can snowball into your children wanting to do more kind things for others.

Keep up your wonderful dedication to early learning!